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As the WGA strike enters Day Two and the writers once again take their places at the entrances of the studio lots with rewritten picket signs and punched-up chants in hand, we embark upon a Tuesday morning round-up of the news:

· For one day at least, WGA president Patric Verrone and AMPTP president J. Nicholas Counter III have refrained from posting their mutual wishes of ass cancer for their bargaining adversaries on their organizations' websites. But following Day Two, we're hoping the hostilities resume, for even outraged mud-slinging is more entertaining than depressingly static update pages. [WGA.org, AMPTP.org]

· Though both sides are fuming over the breakdown of Sunday night's last-minute negotiations, the industry is waiting for someone to take the initiative and commence a new round of talks. But who will be the first to give in? Will the writers give the studios the come-hither stare that entices them back to the bargaining bedroom? Will the Companies sprinkle a trail of rose petals that leads the WGA into a conference room where their next session will take place? Or will Steven Spielberg, descending from the sky on a flying unicorn, command the coy, spatting factions to disrobe and probe every last bullet point of each other's competing proposals until contractgasm is achieved? Will we go completely insane envisioning that third scenario, especially the part where Spielberg, slapping a riding crop into the fleshy palm of his hand, breathily instructs them to "bargain faster. But not too fast!"? Yes, we probably will. [Variety]
· The LAT tells the tale of the "fateful email" sending WGA East members out on strike as talks were still in progress Sunday night, the event that the AMPTP is spinning as its reason for walking out of the negotiations. How can the studios possibly trust an organization that goes on strike the moment it promised it would? [LAT]
· Var suggests that the WGA's accusations of pro-studio bias in the media is due to the Guild's failure to communicate. Shushing picketers who want to give quotes is apparently not winning WGA officials points with the press. [Variety]
· Actors and directors show an early desire not to be screwed in their own upcoming negotiations by joining the WGA picket line. [THR]
· The CBS Radford lot leads Fox's Century City headquarters in WGA picketers by a slim seven-striker margin, though Fox does have an additional 25 SAG members to bolster their numbers. [DHD]
· Hollywood's two favorite Democratic presidential hopefuls compete to see who can offer the most support to the striking writers; we give Barack Obama the lead in this race for getting out his statement first. [TVWeek]
· Us breaks down the effect of the strike on tonight's TV viewing options. [USmagazine.com]
· Pictured: the youngest striker on yesterday's Universal lot picket line decries the pooping-upon the writers are receiving from the studios.